This invention relates generally to the field of air-filtration and, more particularly, is concerned with means and methods for filtering the air entering a substantially enclosed environment, such as room of a home or building, during an event which affects the quality of air surrounding the home or building.
The types of events with which this invention is concerned include nuclear, biological and chemical disasters which can contaminate breathable air and thereby render the air harmful for humans to breathe.
It is known that air which has been contaminated by an event, such as a nuclear, biological or chemical disaster, can be filtered to render the air relatively safe to breathe. One filtration system which has been proposed for filtering contaminated air entering a space is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,296,693, but filtration systems such as the one described in the referenced patent are complicated in construction and can be relatively expensive to purchase.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved air filtration system which has relatively few components and which can be constructed relatively quickly to render a substantially enclosed environment relatively safe from contaminated air.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system, whose components comprise a kit, for converting an environment, such as a room of a home or building, into a shelter from contaminated air outside of the environment.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such an air filtration system which is capable of supplying an amount of filtered air to a substantially enclosed environment, which amount is sufficient for survival of the occupants within the environment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such an air filtration system which is relatively uncomplicated in construction yet efficient in operation.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for constructing the system of the invention.
This invention resides in an air filtration system for filtering air drawn into a substantially enclosed environment having an access opening and a method of using the system.
The system includes a box having sidewalls which is capable of being closed to provide a substantially enclosed interior, at least one filter having a body and a rigid rim encircling the filter body, and a pump having an inlet conduit through which air is drawn into the pump during pump operation.
The method of the invention includes the steps involved in assembling the components of the system and converting a substantially enclosed environment into a shelter into which filtered air is pumped. In particular, the method includes the steps of cutting openings in a sidewall of the box equal to the number of filters of the system wherein each opening cut in the box sidewall is sized to accept a corresponding filter when the filter is fitted therein, fitting each filter into a corresponding filter-accepting opening of the box sidewall and sealing the at least one filter across the access opening of the environment so that any air flow from the outside of the environment into the box interior must flow through the body of the at least one filter. The box is then closed to thereby enclose its substantially enclosed interior, and the inlet conduit of the pump is connected to a sidewall of the box so that air which is drawn into the pump is pulled from the outside of the environment through the at least one filter and is discharged from the pump into the room in a filtered condition.